


Electric

by nocturnal_wanderlust (bdw22520)



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fashion & Models, Comedy, Fluff, Genderqueer Character, Light Angst, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Partying, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-25
Updated: 2018-06-27
Packaged: 2019-05-13 18:37:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 16,871
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14754149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bdw22520/pseuds/nocturnal_wanderlust
Summary: Joshua is given the opportunity to model for an up-and-coming clothing brand. Becoming the face of XK Clothing causes his life to change. He's meeting new people and dealing with the pressure that comes with being the face of a brand. Along his journey, he meets some interesting people who shake up life. He must deal with the breakneck speed of the fashion industry while trying to balance his relationships with his friends, family, and potential love interest.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first fic I'm writing for Seventeen. The title came from the song Electric by Alina Baraz and Khalid. I listened to it while writing and it kept me going. I hope you all enjoy reading this story!!!!! If you have any constructive words don't feel shy. I love hearing from readers and they help keep me motivated.

He sat in the makeup chair letting the makeup artist do her job. He closed his eyes as he tried to calm himself down. The chatter and noise filling the studio helped distract him. It wasn't his first photo shoot, but it was the first shoot that had a lot riding on it.

Two weeks before the shoot, he received a frantic call from his manager. His manager told him that one of the top up-and-coming fashion brands was considering him for the face of their brand.

It was a huge opportunity for his career, but it also meant that he started to overthink everything. He felt like any move he made could ruin the opportunity for him.

“This is so exciting! How many models have the opportunity to grow with a brand?” Joshua knew his manager was posing a rhetorical question. “Not many. The designers will love you. I can already see you as the face of the brand.”

Moon Hyejin was a commanding woman that made sure things worked in her favor. Hyejin found Joshua while he roamed through The Grove in Los Angeles with his friends. She tried everything in her power to get Joshua signed to her agency. She went as far as meeting his parents in person and laying out her intentions.

It was hard to say no to her sometimes. But she always had her clients best interest in mind.

“I wish I could be as confident about this as you are.” Joshua said as the makeup artist finished. Hyejin put her hand on his shoulder and squeezed.

“You will do great. Imagine that this is any other photo shoot.” It was for her to say that since she wasn’t the one that would be posing in front of the camera.

“But it’s not just any other photo shoot. None of my other photo shoots involved whether I’ll be the face of a brand or not.” Joshua said anxiously just as the hair stylist worked her way over to him.

“I think you need some tea. Maybe that will help you calm down.” Hyejin said before walking to the catering table. Joshua watched as she walked off and sighed. He didn’t think tea would help him unless she spiked it or dropped a Valium into it.

However, his nerves calmed down as the hair stylist went to work on his hair. She seemed to be massaging his scalp as she styled his hair. As the stylist finished his hair, the door of the studio opened and the workers became frantic.

“I didn’t know they would be here today.” The hair stylist whispered as she looked around wide-eyed. Joshua tried to get a better look at what caused the workers to get worked up, but an intern swept him away and took him to wardrobe.

“Who’s here?” Joshua asked as the intern handed him the first outfit he would be wearing.

“The creators of XK Clothing. They didn’t warn us about their arrival, so everyone is on edge,” The intern whispered as she looked around nervously. “They are very serious about their designs and how they should look when photographed. So if something isn’t working they won’t hesitate to tell anyone.”

The intern’s nervousness rubbed off onto Joshua. He’d finally calmed himself down and now he had to worry about disappointing the creators of the clothes he was about to wear. He’d never had to meet the designers for his other photoshoots, so it was new territory for him.

“Are they that intimidating?” Joshua asked as he stripped out of his clothes. The intern helped him put on a wine-colored blouse with a deep v-neckline. She made sure that the top didn’t mess up his hair or makeup. She also didn’t answer his question.

Joshua began pulling on a pair of black leather pants when a tall, lanky man walked up behind the intern.

“This looks so plain. Kyla, go grab a couple of chokers…” The man trailed off as he looked Joshua up and down. “A few sets of earrings and some rings.” The intern, Kyla, ran off and did what the man told her. The man continued to look Joshua up and down.

Joshua didn’t know what to do, so he politely bowed to the man.

“Hello, I am Jisoo. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” he said. The man in front of him also bowed and gave a soft smile.

“Nice to meet you Jisoo. I am Xu Minghao, one-half of XK Clothing,” Joshua tried to keep his surprise from showing on his face.

The creators of XK Clothing were mysterious and didn’t make many public appearances. At their fashion shows, they would show shadow projections of themselves or wear masks. The spectacle and mystery were what made XK Clothing so interesting. People wanted to know the faces behind the brand. They also didn’t have a permanent store and opened up pop-up shops randomly around Seoul.

Kyla walked back over to Joshua and Minghao holding a small box filled with accessories. She laid them out neatly on an empty table next to them. Minghao walked over to the table and looked at the selection of accessories before picking up a black silk ribbon and a silver earring that hung down.

Minghao wrapped the ribbon around Joshua’s neck and scrutinized it before turning to Kyla.

“Does this work?” he asked. Kyla tilted her head and looked at the ribbon.

“It works. It elongates his neck.” she said. Minghao nodded in agreement and started to tie the ribbon around Joshua’s neck.

“How many earring holes do you have?” Minghao asked as he looked at the earrings that were laid on the table.

“I have two in one ear and four in the other.” Joshua answered. Minghao came back over to Joshua with multiple earrings and started putting them in. Once he put the accessories onto Joshua, Minghao took a step back and looked around for someone.

“Let me go get Mingyu. This shirt was one of his designs I need make sure he likes the styling,” Minghao said before he walked away. Minghao came back with a tall, tan man that was sipping on an iced coffee. “How does this look?” Minghao asked.

Mingyu tilted his head to the side as looked Joshua up and down.

“I like it,” Mingyu said with a satisfied smile. “I’m so glad that we were able to book you for this shoot.” Mingyu said as he eagerly shook Joshua’s hand. Joshua didn’t understand why Mingyu was so excited about booking him. It wasn’t like he was some in-demand model.

“I think I’m more thankful to you guys for giving me the chance to model your clothes.” Joshua said with a shy smile.

“The world won’t know what hit them once this shoot is out to the public. You have something that the other models we looked at didn’t have.” Mingyu continued to gush as they led Joshua over to the photoshoot set.

The set for his first outfit was a simple black background and nothing else. He walked onto the set and tried to get a feel for it. Minghao and Mingyu stood next to the photographer and watched him.

“We want the mood of the pictures to be mature and mysterious.” Mingyu said to the photographer and Joshua. Minghao nudged his friend and shook his head.

“We don’t have a particular mood. We want to get a feel for what Joshua is going to bring and we’ll go from there.” Minghao said. The photographer nodded his head and turned to face Joshua, who’d been trying to get into the character of Jisoo.

“Are you ready to go?” the photographer asked. Joshua took one last breath before nodding his head.

He got into his first pose and tried to exude masculinity and sex appeal. It wasn’t something that he tried to channel often. So he hoped the pictures didn’t end up looking bad. He needed to make sure that every shot looked amazing. He didn’t want Minghao and Mingyu to feel like they made the wrong decision by considering him as the possible face of their brand.

As he was finishing up the shots in his first outfit, Joshua watched as Kyla walked over to Mingyu and Minghao and whispered something to them. Minghao ran a hand through his silver hair and scowled. Mingyu just shook his head and whispered something to the photographer. The photographer stood up and put down his camera.

“What do you mean the other model isn’t coming?” the photographer said as he turned to face Mingyu and Minghao. Minghao had his arms folded over his chest in irritation.

“Don’t worry we’ll figure this out. By the time you finish shooting Jisoo we’ll have another model here and ready to go.” Mingyu said trying to diffuse the situation.

“I knew we shouldn’t have asked her. She always has some excuse for not being able to make it,” Minghao said as he pinched the bridge of his nose. “What are we going to do? This shoot was supposed to be our big moment and now it’s not going to happen.” Minghao bit his lip nervously as he looked around the room. Mingyu gave Minghao a reassuring pat on the back.

“Jisoo!” Mingyu exclaimed as he noticed Joshua walking towards the changing area to get into his second outfit. Joshua turned towards Mingyu and watched as the tall man whispered to Minghao. Minghao nodded at whatever Mingyu was saying and looked in Joshua's direction.

Once they were done talking they made their way over to the makeup chair that Joshua was sitting in.

“You know how I was saying you had something that the other people we looked at didn’t? Well, we would like for you to use that if you’re comfortable. You have delicate features that border on androgynous and that’s what set you apart. How do you feel about posing in feminine clothing?” Mingyu asked while looking like an overeager dog.

Joshua wasn't sure how he was supposed to react to the answer. It came out of nowhere. It wasn't every day that he was asked to wear women’s clothing. Was it a test? Would they kick him out of he answered a certain way?

“I don’t have a problem doing it. Why do you ask?” Joshua said.

In his private life, Joshua would sometimes dress more feminine depending on how he felt. He never told people he wasn’t close to about the days when he felt more feminine or the days where he didn't feel like either gender. Since he didn’t really know what to label himself as Joshua just went with gender-queer.

He didn't want to go around telling people he was gender-queer. Society was still a bit conservative. He didn't want to lose opportunities or get turned away, so he kept it a secret.

“We want you to fill in for the female model that canceled on us last minute.” Mingyu answered with a smile.

“Have you spoken with my manager about this change in plans?” Joshua asked with a raised eyebrow. He didn't want to get scammed.

Mingyu looked around and spotted Minghao already talking to his manager.

That's how Joshua ended up laying on the ground trying not to disturb the outfit he was wearing.

His bare torso was draped in pearl necklaces and he was wearing a tea length white skirt that was spread out around him. And over his eyes was a band of white lace. The hair stylist put on a carefully styled wig that had inky black waves that spread around his head.

The photographer started to take shots when Minghao walked onto the set. He looked down at Joshua and sighed.

“This isn't what I wanted. It needs to be a bit edgier. This outfit is supposed to mix my style with Mingyu’s but there isn't enough of my style.” Minghao said more to himself than the others in the room.

Mingyu walked over to his friend and scrutinized the outfit as well.

“It's too plain,” Mingyu said as he shook his head. “But I'm not sure what needs to be added.” Both Mingyu and Minghao stared at the outfit Joshua was wearing. They were both deep in thought when Minghao's face lit up.

“Put him in the distressed leather jacket with the patches on it. Take the pearls off and put him in the black velvet choker with the silver hoop on it. And take the lace off his eyes and give him a soft smokey eye.” Minghao ordered after staring at the outfit Joshua was in. The stylist snapped into action.

“Also, instead of this black wig put him in the shoulder length ombre wig. And make it look kinda tousled.” Mingyu said. The hair stylists seemed to know exactly what he wanted and set about doing the task.

Joshua just watched as they moved like a well-oiled machine. He only moved when asked to. He didn't want to get into anyone's way.

Once the changes were made, he walked back onto set. Mingyu and Minghao were explaining how they wanted the pictures to look while Joshua got into his place.

“We want power and mysteriousness and sultry.” Mingyu said to Joshua. To Joshua, it seemed like the designer just picked a few random adjectives and went with them.

Joshua had been told that his face was too soft to be sexy. He decided he was going to prove those people wrong with this shoot.

The photographer did a few test shots before beginning. Joshua got a clear image of what he wanted in his mind and put all his energy into making sure the pose came to life.

He held the lapels of the jacket and gazed straight into the camera. He pursed his lips slightly and waited for the picture to be taken.

Joshua heard the shutter of the camera go off a few times before he changed poses. This time he turned his back to the camera and looked over his shoulder. Part of the wig covered part of his face but he decided to keep it there.

He was getting into his third pose when he looked at Mingyu and Minghao. They were looking at the monitor thoughtfully. Joshua hoped they liked his pictures. He didn't want to humiliate himself in front of a client.

“Boys we are about to set the world on fire,” Mingyu said with a smirk as he looked between Minghao and Joshua. “Get ready to make waves Jisoo.”

Joshua could feel a smile making its way onto his lips. He saw his manager also looking at the pictures. Hyejin looked at Joshua and smiled.

“I think we've struck gold.” she said with a bright smile.

Looking at her smile, Joshua knew his career would never be the same.

 

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

Joshua was sitting in the living room of his apartment eating a bowl of ramen when one of his roommates threw the front door open. Joshua looked up from his food in surprise and saw a panting Soonyoung.

“Did that creepy cat from down the street chase you again?” Joshua asked. Soonyoung shook his head no before running a hand through the indigo bangs that were sticking to his forehead.

“I, Kwon Soonyoung, will be performing a solo in the dance department’s annual showcase.” Soonyoung announced dramatically. Joshua’s roommates seemed to have a flair for dramatics. But Joshua let them have their moments, it made his life a bit more entertaining.

“That's great!” Joshua said. He knew how hard Soonyoung worked as a dancer. He also knew how often Soonyoung got passed up for dance opportunities. It seemed like his hard work finally paid off. “We need to celebrate. What do you want to do?” Joshua asked.

Soonyoung stroked his chin in mock thoughtfulness before answering.

“In celebration of my accomplishment, I would like for you to finally tell me who you modeled for a few weeks ago” Soonyoung said. Ever since Joshua got home from his photo shoot with XK Clothing, Soonyoung had been dying to know who he'd modeled for. He would have told his roommates all about the photo shoot if he weren’t given strict orders not to discuss it with outside sources.

Joshua was also eagerly waiting for Hyejin’s call that would inform him about the shoot. He wanted to know how the pictures came out. He’d only been able to see brief glimpses of the pictures. Maybe he didn’t do as good of a job as he thought he did.

“How about instead of doing that, we have a sleepover and bake cookies and drink?” Joshua suggested just as his phone began to ring. “Think about what cookies you want to make, while I take this phone call.” Joshua got up from the couch and walked into his room. He looked down at his phone and didn’t recognize the number, but he answered it anyway.

“Is this Jisoo?” A male voice asked him. This must be about the photo shoot. No one outside of clients and Hyejin calls him Jisoo.

“Yes, it is. How may I help you?” Joshua said. Why did he say how may I help you? It wasn’t like the person calling was looking for recommendations on what candles smell the best.

“This is Kim Mingyu from XK Clothing,” Joshua felt his heart speed up. They were finally calling about the photo shoot and they were calling him personally. “I am calling because Minghao and I would like to meet personally with you to talk about a few things involving the photo shoot.”

Joshua couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He must have impressed them at the shoot if they wanted to meet with him in person.

“We’ve already discussed the meeting with your manager, but I wanted to tell you about it personally. We will be meeting tomorrow at one p.m. at our new showroom in Hongdae. I’ll email you the address after this.” Mingyu said. Joshua didn’t know how to respond to the information that was being thrown at him.

“I’m looking forward to meeting with you guys.” Joshua said. It was the only response he could get out.

“We look forward to meeting with you as well.” Mingyu said before he hung up.

Joshua threw his phone onto his bed before throwing himself on the bed. He buried his face in his pillows and screamed. He needed to release the excess excitement that was trapped inside of him before he returned to the living room.

Things were starting to fall into place. Hopefully, his work with XK would lead to him getting more offers from bigger companies. He appreciated the smaller jobs he’d been booking, but those jobs didn’t pay as much as bigger ones did. He was tired of having to make Soonyoung and their other roommate, Jun, make up for what he couldn’t pay. Joshua couldn’t count the number of times they had to pitch in on his part of the rent because he couldn’t cover it by himself.

Hopefully, things would start looking up.

After getting his excitement out, Joshua walked back into the living room and saw Soonyoung sitting on the couch in a pair of sweatpants and a loose t-shirt.

“What was that call about?” he asked once Joshua sat down next to him.

“It was about that photo shoot I did a few weeks ago. The designers wanted to meet with me about it.” Joshua said. He could feel the excitement bubbling up again. Soonyoung turned to him with a wide smile on his face.

“That must mean they liked what you did! Maybe they’re going to show you the pictures before they publish them!” Soonyoung shouted. “We really need to celebrate now. How about instead of just a sleepover, we go to a club?” Soonyoung didn’t give Joshua the opportunity to answer him. His roommate was already sending out a text to their group message.

**_\-----------_ **

 

> **_Soonyoung:_ ** _What are you guys doing tonight?!?!??!?!?!_
> 
> **_Jun_ ** _: I’m not doing anything tonight. Why?????_
> 
> **_Seungkwan_ ** _: You guys are lucky. I just cancelled the plans that I had for tonight. What are we doing?????_
> 
> **_Soonyoung:_ ** _We are celebrating!!!!! xD xD I got a solo for the spring showcase and Joshua-hyung is having a meeting with a designer he modeled for.  We need to celebrate, so we’re going out!!_
> 
> **_Joshua:_ ** _I think you’re blowing this out of proportion. I don’t even know if this a meeting about good news. They could be telling me that I suck and they hated the pictures that I took._
> 
> **_Seungkwan:_ ** _If they are meeting with you just to say that you sucked then they suck!!! They’re stupid if they don’t like your pictures!!_
> 
> **_Soonyoung:_ ** _Then it's settled. Meet us at our apartment at 8 and we’ll get ready then we’ll head out for a night of celebration!!!!_

\-----------

“It has been decided. We’re going to have so much fun tonight.” Soonyoung said with a smile.

“Just don’t get too drunk. I don’t want to be the one carrying you home.” Joshua said.

“When have you ever had to carry me home?” Soonyoung asked with a raised eyebrow. Joshua rolled his eyes at his friend.

“I have had to carry you home several times. You were just too drunk to remember it,” Joshua said. Soonyoung just shook his head in disagreement. Joshua decided to let the topic drop. He would just have to make sure that Soonyoung was cut off after a couple drinks. “I’m going to take a nap. I need to make sure that I have energy for tonight.” Joshua got up from the couch and walked back into his room. He closed the curtains before sliding under the covers.

\-----------

Joshua jolted awake when he felt someone step on his leg. Joshua looked up with squinted eyes and glared at the black haired boy that grinned back at him.

“Did I wake you up?” Joshua glared harder before he threw a pillow at the black-haired boy.

“What do you think, Jun?” Joshua said to his other roommate. Jun looked back at him with a small smile.

“I’m sorry,” Jun crawled up the bed and cuddled up to Joshua. “Soonyoung wanted me to wake you up because he ordered chicken and it just got here.” Joshua shot up from his bed at the mention of food.

“Why didn’t you just say that there was chicken?” Joshua asked Jun as he opened the door of his bedroom and walked towards the kitchen. He could smell the chicken as he walked through the living room.

“I knew he’d wake up if he knew there was chicken.” Soonyoung said with a mouth filled with chicken.

“Have you decided what you're going to wear out tonight?” Joshua asked his roommates. Jun nodded his head yes while Soonyoung shook his head no.

“I’ve had an outfit mapped out in my head since Soonyoung sent us the text earlier this afternoon.” Jun said as he picked at his chicken.

“I have no idea what I’m going to wear tonight. I’ll probably just let Seungkwan pick my outfit out this time since Jun picked out my outfit last time we went out,” Soonyoung had a habit of overthinking his outfits. He sometimes let other people pick out his outfit if he got too frustrated with the process. “It’s not like I’m going to meet anyone out tonight.” Soonyoung said with a shrug.

“Tonight isn’t about finding someone. Tonight is about celebrating. We are moving up in our careers and getting closer to our dreams.” Joshua said as he threw a chicken bone back into the box.

“This is the beginning of great things.” Jun said with a bright smile.

\----------

A few hours later, someone knocked on the door of their apartment. Joshua got up from where he sat on the couch with Jun and Soonyoung watching TV. He looked through the peephole and the first thing he saw was a head of brown hair.

The boy outside looked up and rolled his eyes before knocking on the door again.

“I know you guys are inside,” he said. Joshua laughed before opening the door to let Seungkwan inside. Seungkwan came into the apartment carrying a duffle bag. “This is not what I was expecting to see when I showed up an hour late.” Seungkwan said as he looked at Jun and Soonyoung cuddled up on the couch watching a drama.

“Is it really that late already?” Soonyoung asked without looking at Seungkwan. Jun and Soonyoung were so captivated by the drama that they didn’t fully pay attention to Seungkwan until he turned the TV off.

“What the hell, Seungkwan?” Jun said as he whipped around and stared at their younger friend. “It was just getting good.” Seungkwan just shook his head at the older boys.

“I don’t know why you guys are sitting on the couch acting like it’s not going to take you forever to get ready,” Seungkwan complained. “You only have one bathroom in this apartment which means that three of you have to shower and you know how long Joshua takes in the shower.”

“Seungkwan calm down. The clubs aren’t going anywhere.” Soonyoung said as he got up from the couch. He walked over to Seungkwan and put his hands on his shoulders. “What’s going on with you? You usually aren’t this particular about schedules.” Soonyoung asked. Seungkwan sighed loudly.

“You guys know that I auditioned for the upcoming musical at the local theatre I’m apart of.” Seungkwan said. His friends nodded their heads. They helped him memorize the song and scene that he auditioned with. They also went to the audition for moral support.

“Did you get the part?” Jun asked eagerly. Joshua could tell that the opposite happened when Seungkwan’s shoulders sagged and he sighed.

“I didn’t get the part that I auditioned for. I have been relegated to the main female lead’s best friend. The director said that I didn’t fit the image of the leading male.” Seungkwan sighed. Soonyoung recoiled from Seungkwan as if he’d been slapped.

“How dare they put you as a side character? We need to have a talk with this director. He clearly doesn’t know talent when he sees it.” Soonyoung snapped. “Who did they pick as the lead male?” He asked.

They’d sat through all of the auditions in order to see Seungkwan’s audition, which means they got to see some of the other auditions. There were a few people that came close to Seungkwan’s vocals, but most of them fell flat.

“Did they give the role to the guy that sang that really cheesy version of _Just the Way You Are_?” Jun asked.

“Or was it the guy that recited the monologue from _Goblin_? He was so unoriginal.” Joshua said while rolling his eyes. “His vocals were nowhere near as good as yours.”

“It was the _Goblin_ guy that got the part.” Seungkwan sighed. Joshua, Jun, and Soonyoung threw their hands up in exasperation.

“That director better hope that I don’t catch him out on the streets.” Soonyoung said as he ran a hand through his hair. “You should leave his production. He doesn’t deserve your talent.”

Joshua watched as Seungkwan laughed at his older friends’ reactions to him not getting the part he deserved. They were always quick to defend each other when they found out they’d been wronged. They were also each other’s biggest supporters.

“So tonight we are going to forget what that dumb director said. We’re going to celebrate Seungkwan killing the role he has.” Jun said with a smile. “You’ll be the best person on that stage. They’ll regret making you a side character.”

“Thanks for cheering me up you guys.” Seungkwan said with a quivering lip.

“Don’t cry. Make sure you practice the lead male’s lines because the lead male may get locked in a room on the day of the performance.” Soonyoung said with a devious smirk.

“We aren’t locking anyone in a room. Seungkwan can just out-perform and out-sing the leading male.” Joshua reasoned. His friends laughed at his suggestion.

“I mean I was already going to do that, but I guess I’ll try harder.” Seungkwan said with a shrug.

“Let’s get ready for a fun night,” Jun said with a clap of his hands. “Joshua you shower last.” Jun said before he ran to the bathroom.

“Why are you guys so obsessed with how long I take in the shower?” Joshua asked as he folded his arms over his chest. His friends never let him forget that he took longer showers than they did.

“So what is everyone wearing for tonight?” Seungkwan asked in an attempt to avoid Joshua’s question.

“I was hoping you would pick my outfit out for me.” Soonyoung said to Seungkwan before he dragged the younger boy into his room. Joshua looked around the empty living room and sighed. He could just feel that it was going to be a long night.

\---------

“Just put the pants on!” Joshua heard Seungkwan snap as he walked out the bathroom. He’d just finished taking his shower when he heard the commotion coming from Soonyoung’s room.

“I’m not putting those pants on.” Soonyoung yelled back at the younger boy. Joshua walked towards Soonyoung’s room to see what the cause of the shouting was. The door was open and he was sitting on his bed in his underwear glaring at Seungkwan. Seungkwan stood in front of Soonyoung’s closet clutching a pair of wine-colored pants.

“Why are you guys shouting?” Joshua asked the two boys. Seungkwan rushed over to Joshua and held the pants up.

“Soonyoung won’t put the pants on. He asked me to help him pick out his outfit, but he won’t wear what I suggested.” Seungkwan explained.

“Why won’t you wear the pants?” Joshua asked Soonyoung, who was still lounging on his bed half-naked. “They’re nice looking pants.” Soonyoung just sighed dramatically before getting up from his bed and snatching the jeans out of Seungkwan’s hands.

“These pants are bad luck. I wore them on a first date and I never saw that person again. I wore them to meet up with a long-term girlfriend and she dumped me. I also wore these to meet up with a long-distance boyfriend that I had and he also dumped me. So these pants are cursed.” Soonyoung explained as he threw the pants back into his closet.

“If they are such bad luck why do you still have them?” Seungkwan asked.

“Because I don’t want anyone else to have to deal with the bad luck that the pants bring.” Soonyoung said as though it was the only logical explanation. Seungkwan seemed to take that as an acceptable excuse and went back to rummaging through Spongyoung’s closet.

“It looks like you guys worked this out, so I’ll just finish getting ready.” Joshua said as he backed out of Soonyoung’s room.

Joshua walked back to his room and closed the door. He went to his closet and flung the doors open. He stood in front of his clothes and tried to think of an outfit he could wear.

He saw a pair of black pants sticking out and grabbed them. He quickly put them back when he saw they were a pair of suit pants. His hands passed over several skirts and dresses and stopped on a black blouse. The tags were still hanging on it. He couldn't remember where the blouse came from but he pulled it out.

He rummaged through the other side of his closet and pulled out a pair of ripped black jeans. He laid the potential clothing choice on his bed and went back to looking through his closet.

He threw a black jumpsuit onto the bed for consideration as well.

“If I knew where we were going it'd make this process easier.” Joshua said to himself. He was still standing in front of his closet when his door opened.

“Why aren't you dressed yet?” Jun asked from the doorway. Joshua looked up at his roommate and sighed.

“Not all of us can get dressed with superhuman speed.” Joshua said as he went back to staring at the outfits laid out on his bed. Jun walked to Joshua’s bed and grabbed one of the outfits before thrusting it into Joshua’s arms.

“Wear this. I’ve never seen this shirt before, but it looks sexy.” Jun said. Joshua shooed Jun out of his room, so he could get dressed. He slipped out of his clothes and started to get dressed.

As he slipped into the black blouse, Joshua noticed that parts of the blouse were sheer. The front of the shirt was one of the few areas that wasn’t sheer.

“How could I not remember buying this shirt?” Joshua asked himself as he slid into a tight pair of black jeans. After getting dressed, Joshua walked out of his room and went into the bathroom. He was not surprised to see Soonyoung and Seungkwan fighting for the small mirror above the sink. Soonyoung was trying to fix his hair as Seungkwan was trying to put on eyeliner.

“It looks like you finally found an outfit.” Joshua said from his spot in the doorway. Soonyoung and Seungkwan turned to look at him. Soonyoung whistled playfully when he saw Joshua’s outfit.

“Those pants make your butt look great.” Soonyoung said as Seungkwan nodded in agreement.

“Where’d you get that shirt? I’ve never seen you wear it before.” Seungkwan said. Joshua just shrugged because he didn’t know where the shirt came from either. He just decided to turn the compliments on his friends.

Soonyoung was dressed in a flowy white shirt with a deep neckline. The shirt was tucked into a pair of faux leather pants and a silky white ribbon choker was tied around his neck. His distinct eyes were lined in black and there was hints of red eyeshadow around his eyes. He looked amazing.

“You look so good, Soonyoung.” Joshua said with a smile. Soonyoung blushed a little as he laughed.

“This is all because of Seungkwan.” Soonyoung said with a shrug as he gestured at their younger friend.

Seungkwan had on a powder blue blouse with three buckles near the shoulder. The long sleeves were rolled up a bit. His hair was slightly tousled and parted. His eyes were lined with black eyeliner as well, but his eyelids were covered in soft brown eyeshadow.

“You look amazing too, Seungkwan.” Joshua said as he stepped into the bathroom. Soonyoung and Seungkwan moved out of his way as he grabbed his makeup bag from under the sink. Joshua pulled out a bottle of foundation and started to spread a light layer over his face.

“Hurry up.” Jun shouted from the living room. Soonyoung just rolled his eyes.

“Perfection takes time.” Seungkwan shouted back at him.

“Well, I don’t know what’s taking you guys so long since none of you are perfect.” Jun snapped back with a laugh. Soonyoung walked out of the room and headed to the living room. Seungkwan and Joshua could hear the muffled thud of Jun being hit with a pillow.

Joshua went back to doing his makeup while Seungkwan sat down on the toilet. He watched as Joshua rummaged through his makeup bag. Joshua could tell that the something was troubling Seungkwan. The younger boy’s shoulders were hunched over and his lips were downturned.

“What’s bothering you, Seungkwan?” Joshua asked as he tried to smoothly apply his eyeliner.

“It’s nothing.” Seungkwan answered with a smile. Joshua knew that he his younger friend was lying.

“Is it about the musical?” Joshua asked as he finished applying the cat-eye that he’d perfected.

“It’s not about the musical. It’s just something really dumb. I don’t want to burden you guys with something so petty.” Seungkwan said as he fiddled with the roll of toilet paper that was near him.

“If it’s something that is making you upset it’s not dumb or petty. We’re here for a reason,” Joshua said as he turned to face Seungkwan. “So what’s got you feeling down?” Seungkwan sighed before speaking.

“So it’s about this guy.”

“Isn’t it always about a guy?” Joshua blurted out. “Sorry. Keep going.”

“There is a guy in one of my classes. We worked on a project together and he kept flirting with me, while we worked on the project. So some stuff happened and we accidentally hooked up.” Joshua held up his hand in order to silence his friend.

“How do you accidentally hook-up with someone? Did you guys trip and got naked? When you tripped did things get inserted?” Joshua asked. He knew Seungkwan was trying to downplay what actually happened.

“Back to my story. We hooked up and we continued working on the project. Once the project was over, he kept texting me, but he started posting pictures on his Instagram that included this other guy,” Joshua watched as Seungkwan ran a hand through his hair in frustration. “I didn’t want to jump to conclusions, so I asked him about it while we were texting. And he became defensive, so I knew that something was up.”

“Did you stop texting him?” Joshua and Seungkwan jumped at Soonyoung’s question.

“Yeah, then I messaged the guy in his pictures and told him that his boyfriend or whatever was texting me suggestive things. He didn’t believe me at first, which is understandable. But he believed me after I sent him screenshots,” Seungkwan said with a smirk. “So now this guy has been exposed on Instagram. I didn’t have to do it someone else did it for me.”

“That is...the best thing I’ve heard all day.” Jun said with a laugh.

“So why are you upset?” Joshua asked trying to get at what was bothering Seungkwan.

“All of the guy’s friends are mad at me and they keep DMing me weird stuff. And I’ve tried to block them but they just making new accounts.” Seungkwan sighed.

“We’ll handle this for you. I know a guy that can get this situation dealt with.” Jun said with a determined look on his face.

“Please don’t have them killed.” Joshua sighed.

“It’s not that drastic. Trust me.” Jun said with a sweet smile. Joshua just shook his head before turning back to the mirror. He was just going to ignore anything Jun said just in case he had to testify in court one day.

After he applied a swipe of mascara, Joshua was finally done getting dressed.

“I’m ready.” he said with a smile.

“Finally,” Jun said in exasperation. He herded his friends out of the apartment in excitement. “Tonight is going to be so much fun.”

“Everyone make sure to stay together and don’t get too drunk.” Joshua said as they got into the waiting taxi.

The night was supposed to be a night of celebration, so they were going to make the most of it.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter introduces some new characters. It also shows how much of a hot mess they are. I hope you enjoy

They’d only been in the club for 45 minutes when they got separated. Joshua sat on a stool at the bar waiting for his drink. Soonyoung went off by himself the second his drink touched his hand. Jun said he was going to the bathroom but never came back. The only person still around was Seungkwan and he was just looking around the club. 

“I don’t know why I said stay together. I should have known the opposite would happen.” Joshua said to Seungkwan, who wasn’t listening. Seungkwan’s eyes were locked on something across the room. “What are you staring at?” Joshua whispered into Seungkwan’s ear. Seungkwan jolted and whipped his head around to look at Joshua. 

“I...I...Nothing.” Seungkwan shouted. Joshua just laughed and turned back to the bar. “So where do you think Soonyoung and Jun are?” Seungkwan asked. The bartender finally brought their drinks to them. Joshua grabbed his drink and took a sip before answering.

“Soonyoung is probably on the dance floor and some girls have probably cornered Jun somewhere.” Joshua said as he downed his drink. He signaled the bartender back over and asked for another drink. Seungkwan watched as his older friend downed two more drinks. 

“Weren’t you the one that said not to get too drunk?” Seungkwan asked. Joshua turned to Seungkwan and shrugged.

“When did you start listening to me?” Joshua asked. “It’s a night of celebration, so I’m celebrating. It also keeps me from spending my night trying to find Soonyoung and Jun.” Seungkwan understood Joshua’s point and ordered another drink for himself. 

Joshua stood up from his seat and grabbed Seungkwan by the hand. He walked in the direction of the dance floor and came to a stop when a guy stepped on his foot. 

“Watch where you’re going!” The man shouted at Joshua. 

“You’re the one that stepped on his foot.” Seungkwan said to the man. 

“This doesn’t involve you!” The man said as he pointed a finger in Seungkwan’s face. Joshua put his hand on Seungkwan’s chest and put himself in front of Seungkwan. 

“You need to back off.” Joshua said to the man. The guy directed his attention to Joshua and scoffed. 

“I’ll do whatever I want.” The guy shouted as he pushed Joshua into Seungkwan. Seungkwan stumbled backward and fell into someone. Seungkwan stepped away from the person apologizing as the man started to get into Joshua’s face. 

The man started to shout in Joshua’s face as he stuck a finger in his face. Joshua stepped away from the ranting man pushed his hand out of the way. This just made the man angrier. The man was about to swing at Joshua when someone grabbed the man’s arm. 

“Sir, we’re going to have to ask you to leave,” A bulky man with a shirt that read “Security,” said. The man struggled out of the security guard’s hold and stomped to the exit while cursing the whole way. The security guard turned to Joshua. “I hope he didn’t cause you any harm.” 

“I’m fine. I was just looking for my friends,” Joshua said. The security guard nodded before walking away. Joshua turned around to check on Seungkwan, but found that his friend wasn’t standing near him. Joshua stood on his tiptoes and tried to look around the crowd of dancing people. “I should have worn heels.” He couldn’t see any sign of his friends. It was like they sucked into the void that was the nightclub. 

Joshua walked deeper into the crowd of people on the dance floor in hopes of finding at least one of his friends. That proved to be a bad decision as he was grabbed by the waist pulled against someone. 

“Let’s dance.” They shouted in his ear. Joshua moved away from the person and tried to put as much distance between them as he could. 

“Not interested.” He said as he walked away. Joshua knew there was a reason why he always proposed sleepovers instead of going out. At least if they had a sleepover, no one would be wondering around a club filled with strangers while drunk. At a sleepover, they could get drunk in the comfort of one of their apartments and he wouldn’t have to worry about losing his friends. 

It was supposed to be a night of celebrating, but he instead he was spending his night trying to hunt down his friends. He was slowly starting to consider just leaving and heading home by himself but he knew that if he left without them he’d never hear the end of it, so he decided to just go back to the bar. 

People surrounded the bar. None of the stools were empty and it seemed like the bartenders were ready to just throw their entire supply of alcohol at the mass of people. Joshua walked to the edge of the bar and tried to find an empty place to stand. Joshua was about to give up when he saw an arm flying around. 

He looked at the waving arm and followed it down to the face of its owner. Joshua sighed in relief when he saw that it was Seungkwan. He made his way over to his younger friend and glared at him.

“Where did you go?” Joshua asked.

“When that guy pushed me, I tripped and bumped into someone. They pushed me away and I just got bumped further and further away from you. I tried looking for you but I couldn’t find you.” Seungkwan said before he took a sip of his drink. “This is not how I imagined I’d spend my night.” 

“Our nights out rarely go the way we plan,” Joshua said. “This night has become a mess.” 

“It’s not a complete mess. Something good came out of it.” Seungkwan said with a smile. Joshua turned to him with a raised eyebrow. He didn’t know what saved the night for his friend, but he knew that his night was not going well. 

“What made it less of a mess?” Joshua asked. He genuinely wanted to know what saved the night for Seungkwan.

“I’ve been staring at a really cute guy for the past twenty minutes.” He answered. 

“He must be really good looking if he saved the entire night for you,” Joshua said. He wanted to know if the guy was as cute as Seungkwan was making him out to be. “Where is he?” he asked. Seungkwan grabbed Joshua by the shoulders and moved him over a little bit. Then Seungkwan tried to discreetly gesture towards the guy.

“He’s standing next to table by the pole.” Seungkwan said as Joshua tried to find the person he was talking about. 

“I can’t see him. Let’s move closer.” Joshua said as he grabbed Seungkwan by the hand and led him closer to the table he was talking about. Seungkwan tried to use all his weight to keep Joshua from pulling him, but it didn’t work on the alcohol covered floors. Joshua stopped a few feet away from the table Seungkwan pointed out. He tried to discreetly look at the people at the table. “Which one is the guy you were looking at?” Joshua asked. 

Seungkwan looked through the people in front of them.

“He’s wearing the dark turtleneck and he has dark hair. Now that I’m this close he looks mixed.” Seungkwan said. His friend’s description helped him find the boy that Seungkwan had been staring at. 

The boy’s head was thrown back in laughter. When he stopped laughing Joshua could instantly tell why Seungkwan stared at him for twenty minutes. 

“I get why you stared at him for so long. His jaw could cut someone.” Joshua said. Seungkwan nodded in agreement. 

“Too bad I'll never see him again.” Seungkwan said with a sigh. Joshua looked at his friend and the guy they were staring at. They weren't too far from each other. Joshua didn't want his friend’s not to end on a sad note. 

_ “Forgive me Seungkwan _ .” Joshua thought to himself as he grabbed Seungkwan by the arm. He moved Seungkwan in front of him and tapped him on the back. He hoped his plan worked. 

Joshua could tell that Seungkwan was confused but his plan was already in motion he couldn't stop it. 

“What are you doing?” Seungkwan asked before Joshua put all his weight into pushing Seungkwan in the direction of the guy he'd been staring at. 

He watched as Seungkwan flew threw the crowd. He came to a stumbling stop in front of the table the guy was standing next to. Joshua could see the betrayal in Seungkwan’s eyes when he turned around.

The guy Seungkwan stared at looked at him in concern. Joshua could see Seungkwan answer him. He wished he could hear them. Joshua decided he let Seungkwan suffer enough so he stepped out of the crowd and put on a concerned face.

“I've been looking all over for you,” Joshua said as he looked at Seungkwan. Joshua looked around at the other guys at the table and smiled. “I’m sorry for intruding. We got separated looking for our other friends.” Joshua said.

Seungkwan stared at his friend's performance with wide-eyes. Seungkwan knew that Joshua Hong was someone to be feared. 

“Losing friends in this place sucks.” one of the guys at the table said. He had black hair and he wore a denim jacket with round-frame glasses. 

“I'm surprised Vernon hasn't been sucked into the void of people.” A guy with a young looking face said. He had black hair as well. The boy turned to Joshua with a smirk. “He usually disappears a few minutes after we get our first round of drinks.” 

“It’s not like I am taken away willingly. It’s like the minute I walk in someone wants to pounce on me.” The boy that Seungkwan had been staring at said. He ran a hand through his hair and Joshua could practically hear the inappropriate thoughts of some of the people standing near them. 

“We were supposed to be celebrating but we got separated,” Seungkwan said. Joshua nodded in confirmation.

“What were you guys celebrating?” The guy with the round glasses asked. 

“One of our friend’s got a solo at this important showcase and he…” Seungkwan said while gesturing to Joshua, “has a meeting with an important client.” 

“What kind of client is it?” Vernon asked. Joshua didn’t want to tell strangers about his line of work because he got dismissive glances. 

“It’s a fashion brand. They want to meet in person and discuss some business.” Joshua tried to keep it as vague as possible. Seungkwan walked over to Joshua and threw his arm over his shoulder. 

“Don’t be so modest, Joshua. He’s a model and a designer he had a photoshoot with called him personally to set up a meeting with him.” Seungkwan said with a smile. Joshua knew that the younger boy was getting back at him for pushing him. 

“I’m not much a model since I haven’t done anything noteworthy yet. So don’t go looking for me on the cover of magazines and stuff.” He said with a nervous laugh. The three guys at the table just looked at him as if memorizing his face.

“Don’t put yourself down. I feel like something big is going to happen and it’s going to catch you off guard,” Vernon said with a nod of his head. “We may see you on a magazine sooner than you think.” He said confidently as he looked Joshua straight in the eyes. 

“Vernon’s gut-feelings shouldn’t be taken lightly.” The boy with the round-glasses said. 

“Wonwoo’s right.” The young looking boy said.

“Once Vernon said he had a feeling that I’d find love and lose it like two weeks before I met the person and he was right. I met a great guy and I thought everything was sunshine and rainbows, but it wasn’t. I found out he was married with two kids.” Wonwoo said before he downed his drink. “Where is Seungcheol with our other drinks?” He asked as he looked around for another drink. 

“Who’s Seungcheol?” Seungkwan asked. One of the guys was about to answer but Seungkwan kept speaking. “Even better question would be what are your names? We’ve talked to each other but we don’t know each other’s names. I’ll start. I’m Seungkwan.” he said with a small wave of his hand. 

“I’m Vernon.” The boy that Seungkwan had been staring at said. 

“I’m Jihoon.” said the young looking guy. “And Seungcheol is our other friend. He’s the reason we’re out tonight.” Jihoon explained. 

“And I’m Wonwoo.” said the boy in the round glasses. 

“And I’m Joshua.” he said with a smile. 

“Where are you from?” Jihoon asked Joshua. 

“What do you mean?” Joshua asked confused. He didn’t ask Seungkwan that question. 

“I mean where are you from. You have an accent.” Jihoon explained. 

“Oh, I’m from Los Angeles.” Joshua said. 

“So you speak English?” Wonwoo asked. Joshua nodded his head in confirmation. “Vernon speaks English too.” Joshua didn't know what to do with that piece of information so he just nodded.

The group of boys stood around talking about random things. Joshua and Seungkwan momentarily forgot about their lost friends. While Vernon, Jihoon, and Wonwoo forgot about their friend Seungcheol. 

Jihoon was in the middle of recounting a story about Vernon clogging the toilet of his apartment when a guy stumbled over to them clutching a tray of drinks.

“Did you have to distill the liquor by hand?” Jihoon joked as the guy placed the tray on the table and pushed Wonwoo out of his seat. 

“It probably would have taken less time if I made the alcohol myself.” Joshua assumed the guy was Seungcheol. Wonwoo grabbed a drink from the tray and started drinking.

“While you were away we replaced you.” Vernon joked as he pointed to Seungkwan and Joshua. 

“These are your replacements Joshua and Seungkwan.” Jihoon said with a nod in their direction. Seungcheol looked them over before giving a soft smile. 

“You two have big shoes to fill.” he said.

“It won't be that hard to fill them.” Wonwoo said. Seungcheol rolled his eyes and looked back at Seungkwan and Joshua. 

Seungcheol had distinct downturned eyes and a strong jaw. His dark hair was parted just enough to show off his forehead. Joshua jolted slightly when his eyes caught Seungcheol. 

“So what made you guys stick with these losers.?” Seungcheol asked with a joking tone. 

“We were looking for our friends and we just decided to stay in place.” Joshua said. Seungcheol opened his mouth to speak, but he was cut off by a familiar voice shouting over the speakers.

“Everybody make some noise!” Seungkwan and Joshua turned to look at each other with wide, panicked eyes. It couldn’t be who they thought it was. Joshua grabbed Seungkwan’s hand and dragged him to a spot where they could get a better view of the DJ booth. Seungcheol and his friends decided to follow them out of curiosity. 

Joshua squinted his eyes and saw a familiar white shirt on one of the men in the DJ booth. Joshua looked up at the sky in defeat. What had he done to deserve this? He just wanted a fun night with his friends. Now they were probably going to get kicked out of a club. 

“We have to go get him before he gets into even more trouble.” Joshua sighed. Seungkwan nodded in agreement. Joshua grabbed Seungkwan by the hand and walked to the DJ booth. Soonyoung was still holding the microphone making various noises as the DJ looked annoyed. 

Once they broke free of the dancing crowd, Joshua walked to the steps that led to the DJ booth. He stood at the bottom of the steps and yelled for his friend.

“Soonyoung! Get down from there. You’re going to get us kicked out.” Soonyoung didn’t even spare Joshua a glance. “I really don’t want to drag you down from there.” He looked around him and saw that Jun had finally made a reappearance. Joshua wanted to know where he’d gone, but he had a bigger problem to deal with and one of those problems was the group of security guards heading towards them. 

“I didn’t expect my night to be this eventful.” Jihoon said to Wonwoo. At least someone was enjoying their night. 

“Soonyoung, get your ass down here now!” Joshua shouted at his friend who was now dancing in the DJ booth. Joshua took a step toward the steps but he was too late. A burly security guard pushed him out of the way. He stumbled back and watched as the man walked up to the DJ booth. 

The security guard grabbed Soonyoung roughly before dragging him down from the DJ booth.

“You’re hurting me. Let me go,” Soonyoung whined. “Joshua!” Soonyoung shouted as he saw his friend. Soonyoung took a step towards his friend, but one of the security guards pulled him back by the back of his shirt. 

“Was that really necessary?” Seungkwan asked the man. The security guard turned to stare at Seungkwan as one of his colleagues gripped one of Soonyoung’s arms. They were acting like he was a 200-pound man. Soonyoung kept trying to get the man off of him, but the security guard kept tightening his grip. 

“You’re gonna cut off the circulation to his arm if you keep tightening your grip,” Joshua said. He could feel himself getting irritated. They could have just let him go and they would have left. “Why do you still need to hold onto him anyway? He’s no longer in the DJ booth. You could have given him to us and we would have taken him home. You’re both just doing unnecessary bullshit.” Joshua snapped. 

One of the security guards glared at Joshua before walking over to him. The man looked down at Joshua before crossing his arms over his chest. 

“We are in charge here, so we need to keep your friend because he caused a disturbance and is resisting restraint.” The man said. Joshua could feel the people around them starting to stare at the commotion. 

“You’re not even real cops. You all are just a bunch of buff dudes that wear a neon orange shirt that says security. Last time I checked, you can’t arrest people. So, you need to let him go.” Joshua turned and saw Wonwoo pointing a finger in the face of the security guard. Joshua could tell that Wonwoo was not entirely sober. His cheeks were flushed and his eyes were a bit unfocused. 

“All of you shut the hell up! We are here to stop someone that is a threat.” The guard holding Soonyoung shouted. 

“When did he become a threat?” Seungkwan asked the man. “I didn’t know dancing in the DJ booth was considered threatening behavior.” A crowd started to form around them. People were whispering to each other and trying to see what was going on. 

“Just let him go. He wasn’t hurting anyone. You’re letting a little bit of power go to your head.” Jihoon snapped at the group of guards. Soonyoung had stopped struggling to get out of the guard’s grasp. Joshua could see the tears that were slowly making a trail down Soonyoung’s face. 

“This club sucks! You made him cry. This whole situation could have been over if you just let him go.” Seungkwan snapped at the guards. Joshua ran a hand through his hair and sighed. He tried to weigh the options he had in the situation. There weren’t many options. Joshua stood the closest to Soonyoung, so he tried to walk over to his friend. Joshua reached for Soonyoung’s free hand. Joshua laced his fingers with Soonyoung and pulled. 

The security guard dropped his grip on Soonyoung. Joshua looked around in shock and his eyes met the infuriated security guard. The man made a move to try and grab Soonyoung back, but Joshua tightened his grip on Soonyoung’s hand and took off running. 

He could hear the security guards shouting at him, but he couldn’t stop. He pushed people out of the way and tried to make his way to the exit. He hoped the rest of his friends were behind him. 

Joshua could see the entrance in sight. He needed to get out of the club as soon as possible. He kept running and barreled through the entrance of the club. The bouncer standing outside looked at him in shock. Joshua’s running slowed for a bit, but he picked his speed back up when he heard the security guards getting closer. 

Joshua kept running until he couldn’t hear the shouting security guards. He came to a stop in front of an abandoned building. Joshua dropped Soonyoung’s hand and tried to catch his breath. Joshua put his hands on his knees and looked up at Soonyoung. His friend looked a mess. 

His once nicely styled hair was frizzy and tousled. His mascara was smudged and tear tracks wiped away some of his foundation. Joshua stood up and walked over to Soonyoung. He nudged his shoulder in an attempt to get his attention. 

Soonyoung turned to look at Joshua with a beaming smile. What was wrong with him?

“This night has been such a rush!” He shouted in excitement. “I can’t believe we ran from the cops.” Why was he acting like they’d just been to an amusement park? 

“First of all they weren’t cops and second none of that was fun. We can no longer show our face in that club. We could possibly have the actual police hunting us down.” Joshua snapped at his intoxicated friend. Joshua was about to strangle his friend when his phone started to ring. 

Joshua grabbed it out of his back pocket and answered it. 

“Where are you guys?” Jun panted as soon as Joshua answered the phone. Joshua looked around and tried his best to describe where they were. Jun seemed to be giving the information to whoever he was with. “We’ll head over to where you are. Stay there.” Jun said before hanging. 

The irony of Jun telling him to stay put wasn’t lost on Joshua. Soonyoung walked over to Joshua and leaned his head on his shoulder. 

“You better not fall asleep.” Joshua said when he saw Soonyoung closing his eyes. Soonyoung just laughed. 

After a few minutes, Joshua could hear the soft sounds of Soonyoung snoring. Joshua stood still until he heard someone yelling his name. He turned quickly in the direction of the voice. Soonyoung jolted awake at the sudden movement. 

Joshua saw Jun running toward them. Seungkwan and the other guys trailed behind him. 

“Did you lose your mind?” Jun asked as he got close to Joshua and Soonyoung. “You’re lucky you didn’t get caught. What was running through your mind when you pulled that stunt?” When Jun was concerned about the well-being of his friends he had the tendency to sound like a parent.

“That was fucking insane!” Vernon shouted as he stopped near Jun. 

“One moment you were there and the next moment you were running from the cops.” Jihoon said with a smirk. 

“They weren't actually cops. They were rent-a-cops,” Joshua said with a sigh. “We should probably leave this area just in case they’re still looking for us.” Jun helped Joshua carry Soonyoung. 

“I saw a Burger King near here,” Seungcheol said as they started walking. “Hopefully we can get these two kind of sober.” Seungcheol said as he pointed at Soonyoung, who was being dragged by Joshua and Jun, and Wonwoo, who was leaning most of his weight onto Vernon. 

The group walked in silence until the Burger King came into view. 

“Can you two try to act sober? We don’t want to get kicked out.” Jihoon said to Wonwoo and Soonyoung. Wonwoo stood up and took a deep breath. 

“I’m totally sober.” Wonwoo slurred quietly. Soonyoung tried to stand up on his own and started to wobble. Jun threw an arm over his shoulder.

“I’ll stay back with him.” he said as they walked into the Burger King. Jun took Soonyoung over to a booth and sat down. Joshua stepped into line behind Seungcheol and looked at the menu. 

The group ordered their food and waited for it to be brought to their table. Joshua slid into the seat next to Jun while Wonwoo, Jihoon, and Seungcheol slid into the seat across from them. Vernon and Seungkwan stood next to the table and looked at them. 

“Where are we going to sit?” Seungkwan asked. The older guys looked around. Jihoon pointed to a table across from their booth with a smile.

“There’s an empty table.” he said. Seungkwan and Vernon glared at their older friends before turning away from the booth and sitting at the empty table. 

Joshua looked around the table and got a good look at the people surrounding him. Soonyoung looked like a mess. It was easier to see how smudged his makeup was since they were sitting under fluorescent lights. 

Joshua looked at Seungcheol and was shocked at how long his eyelashes were. They framed his downturned brown eyes that were accented by dark, thick eyebrows. His hair was messy from running away from the club. His red-tinted lips were slightly cracked and they were fixed into a pout as he talked to Jihoon. Joshua turned away from staring at Seungcheol and looked at Jihoon, who was laughing at whatever Wonwoo babbled about. 

Jihoon seemed to be the only person in their impromptu group that still looked completely put together. He ran a hand through his black hair and each hair fell back into place. Joshua didn’t understand how that was possible. Next to Jihoon was Wonwoo. He leaned against the wall as he talked to his friends. The round glasses that he wore framed sharp eyes. His cheeks were flushed from the alcohol and probably running. They were a good looking group of friends. 

“Sorry, we ruined your night out.” Jun said to the boys at the table. Jihoon waved him off with a laugh.

“You guys didn’t ruin anything. You guys made my night.” he said. Wonwoo nodded his head in agreement. 

“These two are usually the reason we don’t go out,” Seungcheol said as he pointed to this two friends. “Jihoon is always in his studio, while Wonwoo is either playing video games or studying. They don’t like to get out much.” Joshua started to reply to Seungcheol, but someone poking him in the chest stopped him. 

He looked over and saw Soonyoung poking him. 

“I can see your nipple,” Soonyoung said. Joshua looked down at the spot Soonyoung poked. He saw that his friend wasn’t lying. Joshua quickly fixed his shirt. “A see-through shirt is kind of kinky.” 

Joshua gaped at his friend’s comment. 

“We really need to get him home.” Joshua said through gritted teeth. He looked around the restaurant and hoped that their food would be getting to them soon. 

He slid his phone out of his pocket and checked the time. The wee hours of the morning were starting to creep up on them. Joshua looked at his friends and saw that Jun was in a conversation with Wonwoo while Soonyoung dropped a slurred comment in every few seconds. 

Seungkwan and Vernon were laughing about something. Vernon had his head thrown back in laughter while Seungkwan tried to hide his laughter. It seemed that his friends were enjoying their disaster of a night. 

“Are you waiting for a call from someone?” Seungcheol asked as he gave Joshua’s phone a pointed look.

“I'm just checking the time. No one is texting me especially at this time of night.” Joshua said. 

“I don't believe that no one is texting you.” Seungcheol said.

“Well, Seungkwan, Soonyoung, and Jun text me. Occasionally my parents and sometimes my manager but I'm currently unattached so no one special is texting me.” Joshua said with a shrug. Seungcheol started to reach across the table when one of the workers places their food on the table. 

Everyone attacked the food the moment the worker step away from the table. All the chatter at the table stopped as they shoved food into their mouths. 

After everyone finished eating, the group left Burger King. They stopped outside of the Burger King and looked around. No one was sure what to do next.

“I'm not ready for the night to end. I'm having so much fun,” Soonyoung said with a pout. Joshua watched as Soonyoung’s pout turned into a bright smile. “Let's move this party to our apartment.” 

“I'm sure these guys are ready to call it a night.” Joshua said as he silently tried to plead with his friend. 

“I like Soonyoung's idea.” Jun said with a smile. Soonyoung threw his arms around Jun and squealed. 

“I knew I loved you for a reason, Junnie,” Soonyoung draped an arm around Jun’s shoulder and started to walk off. “Follow me, everyone! The night is still young.” Soonyoung shouted. 

The rest of the group followed Soonyoung and Jun while Joshua trailed behind. 

“Are they usually like this?” Joshua turned and saw Seungcheol walking next to him. 

“Only when they’re drunk.” Joshua answered with a laugh. Soonyoung tended to run off when he was drunk and Jun would just follow after him. Being under the influence tended to amplify Seungkwan’s personality. 

“They seem like a fun bunch.” Seungcheol said. Joshua agreed with him. There was never a dull moment when it came to his friends. Whether sober or drunk, they knew how to make things interesting. 

Since the Burger King wasn’t far from their apartment, they reached it in a matter of minutes. Soonyoung couldn't contain his excitement as they walked up to their apartment. 

As soon as they were on their floor, Soonyoung took off running dragging Jun behind him. Jun unlocked the door and let everyone in.

“Welcome to our home.” Soonyoung said as he gestured to the kitchen that looked into the living room and their makeshift dining area. “is anyone thirsty? We have wine, soju, beer, and some vodka that Joshua smuggled in when he came back from visiting his family in America.” Soonyoung said as he placed bottles on one of the kitchen counters. 

“The wine is off limits,” Joshua said as he grabbed the bottle off the counter. He pulled the cork out and took a long sip from the bottle. “If you can't beat ‘em, join ‘em.” 

Soonyoung let out an excited yell as he watched his roommate chug from the bottle. 

“Slow down on the drink Joshua before Thot-shua makes an appearance.” Seungkwan said with a laugh. Joshua laughed at Seungkwan’s comment before taking another drink from the bottle. 

“Who is Thot-shua?” Vernon asked. 

“Oh, you'll be introduced to him soon,” Seungkwan said as he gestured to his friend. “Things get a bit wild when Soonyoung and Joshua are drunk at the same time. So sit back and enjoy the show that is going to begin soon.” Seungkwan grabbed two cans of beer and gave a can to Vernon. 

The rest of the night passed in a blur that was filled with drinks, music, and laughter. 

  
  
  
  
  
  



	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of the night before catches up with Joshua

The sun slipped into the room through a crack in the curtains. Joshua groaned as the sun hit him in the face. He went to grab one of his pillows but came up empty. He sat up and looked around. He wasn't in his room. 

Joshua slid out of the bed and saw someone else in bed with him. With shaking hands, Joshua pulled the covers back and saw Jun snuggled up with all the pillows. He threw covers back over his roommate and walked out of the room. 

He stumbled his way into the living room and gasped at the carnage. The decorative pillows from the couch were thrown around the room. Empty bottles and beer cans were scattered around the floor. 

Joshua tiptoed through the living room carefully after seeing Seungkwan and Vernon sprawled out on the couch. He walked over to his room and saw Soonyoung and Wonwoo sleeping in his bed. 

He just sighed before walking to his closet. He opened the closet and jumped in shock when he saw himself.

His hair stuck up in multiple directions while his makeup from the night before was smudged. His shirt was buttoned wrong and it was wrinkled. 

“What happened last night?” Joshua asked himself. He grabbed a shirt, a pair of sweatpants, and a pair of underwear before walking to the bathroom. He had his hand on the doorknob of the bathroom just as his phone started ringing in his back pocket. Joshua could hear groans coming from the living room and his bedroom. 

He quickly grabbed his phone out of his pocket and looked at the screen. Hyejin was calling him. What did she need to talk to him about? 

“Hello.” He answered.

“Don’t forget that we have a meeting with Minghao and Mingyu from XK Clothing at one o’clock today. I expect you to be there fifteen minutes early, which means you should be leaving your apartment soon.” Hyejin said. Joshua pulled the phone away from his face and looked at the time. He only had an hour to get ready and get to their store. 

“Don’t worry about me. I’ll be there,” Joshua said with forced excitement. He opened the door to the bathroom and tried to keep his composure when he saw Seungcheol sleeping in the bathtub. “I’ll see you there.” Joshua said before hanging up the phone. Joshua put his clothes and phone down and stared at the guy sleeping in his bathtub. 

Joshua stood in front of the tub and tried to figure out if taking a shower was needed. He took a quick smell of himself and decided that a shower was much needed. He just needed to figure out a way to get Seungcheol out of the tub. 

He thought about turning the shower on and waiting for Seungcheol to drag himself out, but that seemed too cruel. Instead, he just shook Seungcheol awake. 

“What’s going on?” Seungcheol grumbled as he woke up. 

“Can you get out of my bathtub?” Joshua asked. Seungcheol looked around in confusion. 

“How did I get in your bathtub?” Seungcheol asked as he hauled himself out of the tub. 

“I have no idea, but I need to take a shower, so hurry up,” Joshua said as he gently led Seungcheol to the door. “If you wish to continue sleeping find an open room.” Seungcheol stumbled out of the door and Joshua closed it behind him. 

Joshua turned on the shower and hopped in before the water could warm up. He quickly washed his body and his hair. He stepped out of the shower and gave his hair a quick dry before getting dressed. 

He walked back to his room and quickly threw together an outfit. He put on a pair of distressed jeans and a yellow sweater. He slipped his feet into a pair of black ankle boots. He looked at the time one last time before grabbing his wallet and cell phone. 

He raced out of the apartment and hoped that a train was leaving soon. He didn’t have the money to pay for a taxi. He looked down at his phone as he ran into the train station. He had twenty minutes to get to the XK Clothing store before he was late. Hyejin would be there before him and he hoped that she didn’t get too mad at him for being late. 

As Joshua stopped at the train stop, he saw a train approaching. Joshua hopped onto the train and took a seat. He pulled out his phone and looked at himself. 

“I look so bad.” He mumbled to himself. His hair was still wet and sticking up. He had bags under his eyes as well as leftover eyeliner. He should have grabbed a pair of sunglasses. He tried his best to tame his hair as he rode to the station closest to XK Clothing. 

The train came to a halt at the station and Joshua hurried  off. He looked at his phone and groaned. He had five minutes to get to the store. He followed the directions that Hyejin sent to him. As he ran, he bumped into people apologizing hastily. When he finally saw the unmarked storefront that Hyejin described, he sighed in relief, but that relief was short-lived when he saw the time. 

He quickly fixed his hair and buzzed the intercom at the back entrance. 

“Who is it?” a voice on the other end asked. 

“Uh… Jisoo… I’m here for a meeting.” He said. The person on the other end didn’t respond, but the door clicked. He reached for the door and pulled it open. As soon as he stepped into the building his nose was filled with the smell of fresh paint. Music played throughout the space. He looked around and saw Minghao, Mingyu, and Hyejin sitting at a table near a window. 

Joshua took a deep breath and walked over to them. Mingyu noticed him first. 

“Glad you could make it.” He said as he pulled a chair out for Joshua. 

“Sorry, I’m late. Things were really hectic.” Joshua said vaguely. He couldn’t let his potential employers that he was late because he’d been drinking the night away just hours before. 

“It’s no problem.” Minghao said with a smile. Joshua tried to avoid Hyejin’s gaze but he could feel her staring at him. He would get chewed out for sure. When Hyejin told you a time to show up somewhere, you showed up at that time. 

“So, let’s get this meeting started,” Mingyu said as he opened up a folder while Minghao opened up his sleek laptop. “We had our lawyer draw up a contract for you and your manager to look over.” Mingyu handed Hyejin a small stack of papers from his folder. 

“Look through it and see if everything is up to your liking. We are open to negotiation.” Minghao said as Hyejin flipped through the contract. She went through the contract and marked things with her pen while making small noises. 

Hyejin looked up at the designers.

“Is this an exclusive deal? Will he be able to take on other jobs while working with you?” Hyejin asked as she folded her hands on the table. Mingyu and Minghao looked at each other. Mingyu whispered something in Minghao’s ear before turning back to Joshua and Hyejin. 

“We ask that his first three months with us are exclusive. After that period of time, he can work with other clients.” Mingyu said. Hyejin seemed to think it over before nodding her head.

“That is doable,” she said as she slid her marked up contract back to Mingyu. He took it and put it back into the folder. “Email me the final contract after your lawyer has taken a look at the changes that I've made.” 

“Now that the boring stuff is out of the way let's move onto the interesting stuff.” Mingyu said with a smile. Minghao turned his laptop toward Joshua and Hyejin. 

“We went through the shoots that you took and we picked some of the best ones. We wanted to show you which ones we picked and we wanted you to have a say in what pictures we displayed.” Minghao said as he opened up a file. 

He clicked and enlarged one of the photos. The first picture was of Joshua in a wine-colored blouse with leather pants. His hair was slicked to one side. It was a nice picture but nothing stood out about it. The next couple of pictures were the same. 

“We put these pictures at the beginning because they looked good but they weren't amazing. As we get further into the pictures you'll notice that they get more and more interesting.” Mingyu said with a smile as they looked through the photos.

As they got closer to the bottom, the pictures started to become better. Joshua could hardly believe it was him in the pictures. 

They were looking at a set of pictures that contrasted. One of the pictures was of Joshua in a tan leather jacket with a cream-colored turtleneck and ripped burgundy pants. The picture next to it was of Joshua in a cropped sweatshirt with high-waisted paint-splattered jeans. In the picture, he had on a blonde wig. His makeup in the picture made him look more feminine than the picture next to it. 

However, in both pictures, Joshua had a sultry gaze and his lips pursed. 

“I like these two.” Joshua said as he pointed at the screen. Minghao and Mingyu looked the screen and marked it. 

As they neared the end of the pictures, Joshua had Minghao mark six other pictures. 

“Now for the showstopper.” Minghao said with a grin as he pulled up the final set of pictures. Joshua gasped when he saw the pictures. They were shots of him in a tulle skirt with a leather jacket. His wig was tousled and stopped at his shoulders. He was looking straight into the camera while holding one of the lapels of the jacket. 

He continued to look at the pictures and was shocked at how good they looked.

“That can't be me.” He said in disbelief. 

“These are certainly you. We were there and you killed the pictures in this outfit. You killed the other pictures too but these stood out the most.” Minghao said with a smirk. Mingyu nodded his head in agreement. Mingyu and Minghao continued to show Joshua and Hyejin pictures until they finished. 

“Which pictures did you choose to display?” Hyejin asked. Mingyu pulled out six printed out pictures and showed them to Hyejin and Joshua.

“These are the ones that we want to use for our displays and ads,” Minghao said. Joshua looked at the pictures they’d chosen and agreed with their judgment. There were two pictures of him in the tulle skirt outfit, one of him in the burgundy blouse, one of him in the cropped sweatshirt, and two of him in the cream turtleneck and tan leather jacket. “We’d like to have another shoot so we can get some more pictures once we open up the store.” 

“Are you guys working with any other models?” Joshua asked as he slid the pictures back to Mingyu. 

“We have a casting next week to book two more models but we want you to be our main model.” Mingyu explained. Hyejin looked at the two guys in front of her and her client. 

“We will get back to you about the contract, but everything seems to be up to par,” Hyejin grabbed her bag and stood up. She stuck out a hand to Minghao and Mingyu. “We look forward to doing business with you.” She shook their hands before stepping away from the table. Joshua started to follow her lead, but a hand landed on his arm.

“Would it be a problem if Jisoo stayed behind and talked with us?” Minghao asked Hyejin. She looked at the two men before agreeing. “We just want to get to know the face of our brand better.” Minghao said with a smile. Hyejin returned his smile before walking away. As he watched her walk away, Joshua knew that he would be getting either a strongly worded email or a phone call from Hyejin about showing up late to the meeting. 

Joshua sat back down in his seat when he saw Mingyu and Minghao start to sit down. 

“Now that the serious stuff is out of the way, we want to get to know you better.” Mingyu said with a smile. “Just start with some basic information like, where you’re from, how old you are, that kind of thing.” 

“I’m Jisoo. I am from Los Angeles and I am 23 years old.” Joshua said. “What about you guys?” he asked.

“I’m Kim Mingyu. I am from Anyang, and I’m 21. What made you come all the way to Korea? Couldn’t you have been a model in LA?” Mingyu asked with a head tilt that made him resemble a puppy. 

“I got scouted while I was out in LA and I decided to take a chance because I didn’t have any other plans for my future,” Joshua answered with a shrug. “How did you guys meet each other?” 

“I was an international student from China at our university and Mingyu and I met in our art history class. He liked drawing clothes and I liked throwing pieces together and seeing how they worked. We started designing clothes a few months into our first year of university.” Minghao said. 

“We would go to thrift stores and buy clothes, then we’d go to the craft store and find cheap fabric. That’s how we started XK Clothing. We both had a decent following on Instagram, so we started posting about the clothes we made and people started buying it. After a while, we found that our side business was successful and we entered into competitions and local fashion shows. We hit it big when some fashion blogger saw our designs and decided to blog about it.” Mingyu picked up the story. 

“After that, we dropped out of school and focused all of our efforts on the brand and here we are opening our first store.” Minghao said as he gestured around room. 

“What did your parents say when you told them you dropped out?” Joshua asked.

“They were furious. My mom didn’t talk to me for a month,” Mingyu said. “Then she started seeing results and no longer had a problem with it.” 

“So, on to more interesting things. What caused you to be late?” Minghao placed his chin into his hand. Joshua looked him in the eye to see what his motive behind the question was. 

“My friends went out last night and I had to spend the night taking care of them.” Joshua may have embellished the truth. Minghao raised a skeptical eyebrow. 

“So that would explain the sunglasses and why you were late?” Minghao asked. Joshua just nodded his head. He didn’t know if he was being tested by the two men so he stuck with his story. It wasn’t like it was a total lie. He did spend part of the night taking care of his friends. “We’ll take that story for now.” Minghao said. 

“So are you in a relationship?” Mingyu asked. Joshua looked at his two employers and tried to think of a way to get out of answering their question. Why did they need to know if he was in a relationship? So Joshua decided to flip the questioning onto them.

“Are you guys in a relationship?” Joshua asked. He laid his arms on the table and stared them down. “Do you guys have a girlfriend?” Minghao let out a loud laugh at Joshua’s second question.

“Mingyu wouldn’t know what to do with a girl. He’s too into dicks.” Minghao said while pointing at his friend. 

“Okay, Minghao. Don’t act like I haven’t found you with your fair share of guys.” Mingyu retaliated. Joshua watched in shock as they exposed each other. 

“I never said I didn’t like guys. That’s the thing about being bisexual. I don’t have to just be with girls or guys,” Minghao took a sip from the glass of water that sat on the table in front of him. “So back to our original question. Are you in a relationship?” Joshua thought he’d be able to get out of answering that question. 

“I’m not in a relationship.” he answered. He hoped they didn’t ask any additional questions. 

“So if you were in a relationship, who would you be in a relationship with?” Mingyu asked. 

“A person,” Joshua answered. “Why limit myself with the gender binary?” Joshua watched as Mingyu and Minghao laughed. 

“We’re going to work great together.” Minghao said. Joshua went to answer Minghao but his phone started to ring. Joshua frantically pulled it out of his pocket and looked at the notification on his screen.

> **Soonyoung: you need to watch this video! It’s the greatest thing ever!!!!!!!! [video attached]**

Joshua unlocked his phone in order to tell Soonyoung to stop texting him but he accidentally clicked the link to the video. He jumped in surprise when HyunA’s  _ Lip & Hip _ started playing from his phone. He ended up throwing his phone onto the table on accident. Mingyu picked it up for Joshua but didn’t give it back to him immediately. From his phone, Joshua could hear a voice that sounded a lot like his singing along to  _ Lip & Hip _ . 

“Is that you?” Minghao asked as he watched the video on Joshua’s phone. “Taking care of your friends my ass.” he said without looking up at Joshua. 

“You really got some moves.” Mingyu said. Joshua buried his hands in his head and waited for the floor to open and swallow him. 

_ “And Thotshua strikes again!”  _ Joshua heard someone shout from his phone. The video ended with Soonyoung giving a loud screech as something crashed. The room he’d been sitting in with Minghao and Mingyu was silent as the video ended. Mingyu slid the phone back to Joshua. 

“I’ll tell Hyejin that things didn’t work out.” Joshua said as he grabbed his phone and shot up from his chair. He’d never been so embarrassed in his life. He was going to kill Soonyoung when he got back to their apartment. 

“Who said we were letting you go?” Minghao asked. “If anything that video has made us want to have you representing our brand even more.” 

“So who’s Thotshua?” Mingyu asked with a laugh. Joshua sighed loudly and ran a hand through his hair. 

“Thotshua is a name my friends made up for when I get really drunk. They took my real name Joshua and mashed it together with thot.” Joshua mumbled. His face had never felt so hot. 

“Now I want to see Thotshua in action.” Minghao joked. 

“You really don’t.” 

“This has been such an eventful meeting. We got to know more about each other. I think this partnership is going to go well.” Mingyu said with a smile. He stood up from his chair and motioned for Minghao to follow. “Minghao and I have to go to a meeting with our contractor and interior designer. It was nice to sit down and talk with you, Jisoo.” Mingyu put a hand out. Joshua shook his hand before shaking Minghao’s. 

“You guys can just call me Joshua,” he said. “You can call me Jisoo in more professional settings.” Minghao and Mingyu nodded their heads in understanding. 

“Well, we’ll see you around, Joshua. Try not to have too much fun.” Minghao said with a laugh. Joshua rolled his eyes playfully.

“I look forward to working with you guys.” he said before he walked away from the table. 

Joshua spent his commute home thinking of ways to murder Soonyoung without getting caught. 

  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so glad people are enjoying my story!!!! I wasn't sure if anyone would want to read it but apparently people do want to read it an enjoy it!!!!! Don't forget to leave a comment. I love hearing from readers!!!!!!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, it took so long to get this chapter out. I had so much trouble writing it and I'm sorry if it isn't the most interesting chapter. I hope you guys are still enjoying the story and don't forget to leave a comment. Comments are like fuel for writers, your words are what keeps us going!!!

Joshua raced up the stairs to his apartment. He couldn’t wait to get his hands on Soonyoung. He unlocked the door to the apartment and walked into the apartment. He closed the door softly behind him. He threw his keys onto the dining table and walked to the living room. 

Seungkwan was sitting on their couch eating leftovers while watching TV. 

“Hey, Seungkwan.” Joshua said with a smile. Seungkwan turned away from the TV and looked at him. 

“Where did you go? We all woke up and you were gone.” Seungkwan said. Joshua sat down next to Seungkwan with a sigh.

“I had a meeting with the designers of a clothing line. We talked about having me as the face of their brand. I told you guys about this last night. It’s one of the reasons we went out to celebrate.” Joshua said. Did Seungkwan get that drunk that he couldn’t remember sober conversations he’d had hours before drinking?

“I do remember you telling us that.” Seungkwan went back to eating. Joshua looked around the quiet living room. It didn’t look like that when he left. 

“Did you clean up after I left?” Joshua asked. Seungkwan nodded his head.

“This place was a disaster. From the amount of cleaning I had to do, we must have gone all out last night.” 

“Well, I know one thing that happened last night.” Joshua pulled out his phone and showed the video to Seungkwan. Seungkwan choked on his food as he laughed at the older boy’s antics on the screen.

“Where did you get this?” Seungkwan asked.

“Soonyoung sent it to me in the middle of my meeting. The designers ended up seeing it and now I have to kill Soonyoung.” Joshua said dramatically. 

“Soonyoung is probably still in his room. That’s where I saw him last.” Seungkwan said. Joshua stood up from the couch and headed to Soonyoung’s room. The door was cracked open and he could hear the soft sounds of someone talking. Joshua pushed open the door and saw Soonyoung sitting on his bed talking to Jun. 

“Kwon Soonyoungie.” Joshua said in an overly sweet voice. Soonyoung and Jun looked at him in confusion. 

“Hey, Joshua Hong.” Soonyoung said with a laugh. “Did you get the video I sent you?” He was getting straight to the point. It meant Joshua could kill him faster. 

“Oh I got the video and my future bosses saw it as well. So I hope you enjoyed your time on earth because it ends today,” Joshua said with a straight face. “Not only did I show up to my meeting hungover and late, but I get sent a video of me dancing on a table. I’m surprised that I still have a job.” 

“So it all worked out in the end then. No need to kill me.” Soonyoung said with a nervous laugh.

“No I’m still going to kill you so this doesn’t happen again.” Joshua started to creep toward Soonyoung. Soonyoung started to slowly slip off of his bed. Soonyoung watched carefully as Joshua started to move closer to him. Once he felt he was close enough, Joshua lunged for Soonyoung. Soonyoung screeched and jumped away. 

“You guys stop!” Jun shouted. He placed himself between his roommates. He turned to Joshua first. “You can’t kill Soonyoung. We need him to keep our parts of the rent affordable. If you kill him we have to start paying his part of the rent.” Joshua backed down after hearing Jun’s reasoning. 

“Is that the only reason he shouldn’t kill me?” Soonyoung asked in exasperation. Jun just shrugged his shoulders. Soonyoung sighed and sat back down on his bed. 

“You’re lucky Jun was here to save you.” Joshua said to Soonyoung. 

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know you were in a meeting. How was I supposed to know?” Soonyoung threw his hands up in frustration. “I forgot you had a meeting today. I had a really rough night last night apparently.” 

“You were a disaster last night. We ended up running away from the police because of you.” Jun said. Joshua knew the account of last night was exaggerated, but Soonyoung didn’t. His eyes widened. 

“It wasn’t the actual police. It was club security.” Joshua explained. 

“What did I do last night?” Soonyoung asked. 

“You got drunk and disappeared.” Jun said. 

“Seungkwan and I spent most of the night looking for you. And when we did find you, you were in the DJ booth and security grabbed you.” Joshua picked up where Jun left off. “I snatched you away from security and we took off running.” 

“So I vaguely remember sitting in a Burger King. Did that happen?” Soonyoung asked.

“That did happen,” Soonyoung sat back down on his bed and sighed. “Seungkwan also met some guy.” Jun said.

“So I’m the reason those guys were here?” Soonyoung asked. Jun and Joshua nodded their heads. 

“It was an interesting night, to say the least.” Joshua said with a sigh. He sat down on Soonyoung’s bed and flopped backward. He could feel fingers softly petting his hair. The soft strokes made him close his eyes. He reminds small pieces of the night before.

He remembers walking into the apartment and opening a bottle of wine. He also remembers pieces of the rowdy game of charades they played. After that, the rest of his memories became harder to retrieve. 

“Do you have any other videos from last night?” Joshua asked. He could hear Soonyoung starting to move around.

“I have two more videos and a bunch of pictures.” Soonyoung said. Joshua hears shouting coming from Soonyoung’s phone. 

_ “I'm so tired of being underappreciated. Like I give so much in my relationships but I get nothing in return.”  _ Joshua could hear a deep voice in the video say. Joshua sat up and moved to Soonyoung’s side to look at the video. The screen showed an intoxicated guy with fox-like features. He was sitting next to Soonyoung, who looked just as drunk as the guy talking. Joshua the guy as one of the people they met last night but he couldn't remember his name.

_ “I get what you're saying. It's so hard finding people that will appreciate me. There was this guy in one of my dance classes and he said I was super cool and then we hooked up. I thought it was more but it wasn't. He said I wasn't someone he could see himself dating. Am I not husband material?”  _ The Soonyoung in the video said. The other guy nodded his head vigorously. Joshua turned and looked at Soonyoung. He face was a soft shade of red. 

“ _ I think you'd be a great husband!”  _ The other guy on the screen shouted. Soonyoung burst into tears on the screen.

_ “You just get me, Wonwoo.”  _ The video cut off when a people hit Soonyoung in the face. 

Joshua watched as Soonyoung covered his face with his hands. Joshua was enjoying his friend's embarrassment. 

The next video included Seungkwan standing on the kitchen counter belting out  _ I Hope  _ by FTISLAND. He was using a spatula as his mic. At one point he stumbled and almost fell off the counter. One of the boys from the night before was sitting on the island watching Seungkwan in awe. 

Jun could be heard off-camera, while Soonyoung and Joshua walked into the shot and started headbanging. Soon the entire group started screaming the lyrics. 

“So we clearly had fun.” Jun said with a laugh. Soonyoung started scrolling through the pictures from the night before. Most of them were of random objects with the occasional thumb in the way. Some pictures featured people. 

One of the pictures was of Jun latched onto Seungkwan. The pictures started to get weirder and weirder as they continued looking through the pictures. There was a picture of Joshua draped across Seungkwan’s lap with his eyes closed. He wasn’t sure if he was passed out or just had his eyes closed. 

“Did Seungkwan get that guy’s number?” Jun asked as he looked at a picture of Seungkwan laughing with Vernon from the night before.

“Why are asking us? Seungkwan is here aka him yourself.” Joshua said. 

“Seungkwan is still here? I thought he left.” Jun stood up from the bed and walked out of the room. Joshua and Soonyoung followed behind him. Seungkwan was still sitting in the same spot that he’d been in when Joshua came back home. He looked up when he heard all of the commotion heading his way. 

Jun sat down next to Seungkwan and gave him a bright smile. Soonyoung and Joshua sat on the other side of him with the same bright smiles. 

“Why are you guys looking at me like that?” Seungkwan asked in confusion. Jun threw an arm over Seungkwan’s shoulder and started to pet his hair softly. 

“So how was your night?” he asked. Seungkwan tried to wiggle out of Jun’s hold but he just tightened his grip. “Did anything interesting happen?” 

“How was your night Jun?” Seungkwan redirected the question. Jun sighed dramatically. Joshua wasn't sure if Seungkwan was avoiding their questions on purpose or if he just didn't remember what the night before.

“You seemed pretty close to someone last night. Did anything interesting happen?” Joshua said. Seungkwan rolled his eyes and stood up from the couch. 

“You guys would know what happened if you hadn't gotten so drunk.” Seungkwan said. 

“I wasn't even that drunk. I just wasn't paying attention to what you were doing with Vernon.” Jun said in defense of himself. “From the way you're avoiding the question, something must have happened.” 

“Nothing happened. We talked and laughed at you guys doing stupid stuff. Then we fell asleep. They left this morning and he gave me his number. That is all that happened. Nothing interesting.” Seungkwan said with a shrug. Jun deflated at the anticlimactic events.

“That’s so boring. I thought you guys would have at least made out at most their would have been some dick sucking.” Soonyoung said. Seungkwan started to turn red in embarrassment. Joshua picked up one of the pillows from the couch and smacked Soonyoung in the face with it. 

“I’m glad your night wasn’t a complete disaster, Seungkwan.” Joshua said. 

“Thank you, Joshua,” Seungkwan said while glaring at the two other boys. “I’m glad that someone cares about something other than my sexual escapades.” 

“Well, I wouldn’t go that far. I still wish there were some juicy details, but I am glad you got his number. That opens up the possibility of hearing about future escapades.” Joshua said with a laugh. Seungkwan picked up a pillow and started to hit Joshua with it.

“Why don’t you guys just go find some to have sex with?” Seungkwan said as he turned and hit Jun with the pillow. 

“It’s too much effort. I’d rather live vicariously through you. You’re still young and have some much life left to live.” Soonyoung said with a sigh. Seungkwan gave up hitting his friends and laid across them instead. The boys sat in silence for a little while until Jun spoke up.

“So Seungkwan if anything went down with Vernon you would tell us, right?” Seungkwan groaned loudly as the older boys laughed. 

  
  
  



End file.
